Health Effects of Mercury Exposure
Mercury is a persistent, bioaccumulative toxin and a potent neurotoxin. Once in the body, bioaccumulative toxins such as mercury are slow to break down, resulting in the accumulation of the toxin in body tissues and fat. The major source of human exposure to mercury is through eating contaminated fish.
Mercury can be passed from a woman to her developing child in the womb across the placenta and to her baby through breastfeeding. Children can also be exposed through the consumption of contaminated fish. Children are more vulnerable to the toxin because their nervous systems are still developing.
Health effects in children exposed to mercury include neurological disorders such as learning disabilities and developmental retardation, and memory and vision impairment, among others.
An estimated 1 in 6 women in the United States have high enough levels of mercury in their blood to put their infant at risk of neurological disorders. That translates into 630,000 infants born each year with unsafe mercury levels!1
Adults exposed to mercury may experience trembling hands and numbness or tingling in lips, tongue, fingers or toes. Other physical symptoms include fatigue, joint pain and mental instability. High levels of exposure can also damage the heart, nervous system, or kidneys.
What You Can Do To Protect Your Health
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Educate yourself about healthy fish choices
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Find out how much mercury you have in your body by using a mercury testing kit
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Recycle products that contain mercury
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Encourage your congressional and state representatives to support laws reducing mercury pollution and exposure
- Support our work by making a donation today!
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Additional Resources
Information from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Scientific Study: Health Effects of Seafood Contamination with Methylmercury in the Faroes
Return to the main Mercury and Reproductive Justice campaign page
1U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Methylmercury: Epidemiology Update, Presentation by Kathryn Mahaffey, PhD at the National Forum on Contaminants in Fish, San Diego, CA (January 25-28, 2004).
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